1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention is called DATABASE ORIGAMI because of its ability to unfold and clarify complex, subtle and difficult to uncover relationships and other information hidden in large databases. The present invention relates generally to database browsers and crawlers and more particularly to computer-implemented methods and systems for extracting useful systematic information for law enforcement, the intelligence community, and other organizations with complex analytical requirements from telephone and internet subscriber records, textual, and non-textual databases.
2. Description of Related Art
In 1995, an information management software company, Oracle Corporation, introduced a Microsoft Windows-based software tool designed to help law enforcement investigators more effectively manage and solve cases. Such was marketed as the special investigative unit support system (SIUSS). Information management technology is used to provide insights into criminal activity and reduces the time needed to bring cases to their successful resolution. The Oracle SIUSS collects, stores and analyzes case intelligence information related to complex conspiracies, violent crimes, drug trafficking, and other major cases. The tool combines conventional analytical techniques with job-specific information collection and lead generation analysis. Inputs can be received from various investigative sources, e.g., surveillance teams, forensics experts, wire room operators, citizen tips. The computed conclusions are provided as case leads and made available to agency management, analysts and investigators.
Some prior art law enforcement systems simply gather and store factual information, e.g., names, birthdates, and time of a telephone call. The Oracle SIUSS attempts to develop leads the way investigators do, by starting with known facts and combining them for further insight and leads. SIUSS is based on a conventional relational database management system. Criminal patterns are identified by linking subjects, vehicles, locations, businesses and other entities, within a case or among several cases. Information management is provided to users for investigative intelligence, telephone information, assets, financial data, arrests, seizures, credit card data, surveillance, mail covers, trash pickup and incidents. The telephone information can include toll, pen/DNR, and Title III data. Information can be cross-referenced to uncover otherwise obscure and non-obvious relationships.
Database analysis software is now being used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Department of Justice (DOJ), US Customs, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), state departments of public safety, and many other agencies at all government levels. Case information can be shared or kept separate to any degree desired, depending on the needs of the investigators. Information bits are gathered from the field in hundreds of bits and pieces at different times and places, and submitted to an automated link analysis. The Oracle SIUSS uses pattern analysis to find information in the timing and sequence of phone calls made by an investigation target. Insights can be developed into how the target and his associates work together in a conspiracy. A conspiracy index is created according to the relationships of calls involving the target and others based on their phone numbers. Such relationships are proportional to their mutual involvement in a conspiracy. Secure databases, networking and encryption technologies are used to control the flow and accessibility of intelligence data outside the supplying agency. An Oracle SIUSS configuration can include a Microsoft WINDOWS operating system hosted on a personal computer, and such can be connected to virtually any type of file server.
The prior art includes many so-called analytical computer programs for law enforcement. Most only store and retrieve data. Others make "analytical" graphics from associations the user must identify first. In general, investigative analysis looks for patterns, associations and profiles, and such information can help steer an investigator to previously unknown criminal activity. Computer programs are now being used to discover in seconds what used to take days using index cards.
Telephone activity analysis involves the identification of illicit operations, and supervisors and their subordinates through telephone profiles. Conventional telephone activity reports display the notes and plant numbers related to each telephone number. If a number occurs in other plant or subject files, which plants and subjects are announced automatically. Financial activity can be combined, sorted and key-word searched for one or more subjects. An account number that appears in another financial plant is also automatically announced. For example, common money laundering methods often display various database indicia. Universal pattern and association searches are conventionally used to combine telephone, surveillance, financial and mail activity, and then to look for any systematic patterns and links. Relational links between a subject, a group, a business, etc., are displayed.
The Institute for Intergovernmental Research (Tallahassee, FL), markets a research specialized software for law enforcement agencies under the name CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM FOR MICROCOMPUTERS (CIS). Law enforcement agencies are supposed to be able to organize and access information on individual suspects or suspect organizations in an easy to follow format. The CIS program can accept up to seventy-two elements of information on individuals, or forty elements for organizations. CIS groups similar data together for both onscreen viewing and printed reports. Information about individuals is categorized into personal information, alias/moniker, associates, criminal activity, and vehicle information. Organizations are categorized into organization information, criminal activity, and vehicle information. Such organizations can comprise either a business or group suspected of criminal activity. CIS allows access, modifications, additions, and printing of the information. Full or partial descriptions can be entered for most searches, and up to nine elements can be combined to create a personalized search. CIS database records can be transferred between microcomputers, for record sharing within a department or between agencies.
The importance of this invention is that the concept of a map of the datapoints can be extended to other kinds of databases. For example, in a different embodiment of the invention, the files from a seized computer can be datapoints. A metric is defined and the distance between two files is computed. This leads to the construction of the map of datapoints. This concept can also be applied to commercial applications such as transportation, retail sales and marketing.